Kimura Mei

"I am Team A's Shimazaki Haruka the 11th."

Mei Kimura (木村 めい) is a member of Team A. She is currently a successor, holding the name of Shimazaki Haruka the 11th. Currently, her most notable nickname is Paruru(ぱるる). Prior to succession, she was (and is still, to a degree) commonly recognized to be the arrogant Hime character of AKB0048, and this is what spawned the nickname Mei-sama (めい様), however, she was also referred to as Mei-chan (めいちゃん), and KimuMei (きむめい).

Appearance
Haruka as relatively short, wavy hair. She has bangs that are usually let down, or swept to the side elegantly. She has a fuller figure, and is also moderately tall. Her eyes are silver, and have heart-lining in them. Her hair does also have heart linings in it. She has a good fashion sense, and can easily tell what will be "in" and what won't in a few weeks. Considering this, she has a stylish and sophisticated clothing-style.

Personality
While Haruka's onstage character is very much like a snobby princess, she is really a big sweetheart. She does always her best to remember names, even if she has troubles with siblings. She always wants to make sure that everyone is comfortable - even going as far as making herself uncomfortable in the process. She is completely horrible at telling jokes, and at times, that is what brings laughs.

Haruka's onstage character, however, is the complete opposite of her normal behaviour. This is due to nervousness that she always gets when she's making a public appearance. She turns snobby and superior, and does at times act like no-one else is in the room, because "she is above everyone else". She also gets a bit selfish, and spoilt. When she first started developing these traits, and she did actually feel really bad about how she treated others when she was onstage and in character.

History
Being born on Saharastar, Haruka is used to hot temperatures, and has a hard time getting sunburnt. She does, however, feel a bit uncomfortable wearing a swimsuit, because most planets have a colder climate than Saharastar and she does easily get cold when she isn't wearing very much clothes.

Haruka lived with her older brother, Kimura Shouta, all her life. He has taken care of her since she was three, and she doesn't know who her real parents are. She doesn't care either. Shouta was always very supportive of Mei's dreams, and was the first one to cheer her on when she said that she had applied for the auditions.

Encountering AKB0048
Haruka encountered 00 when she was 5, and AKB0048 came and held a concert on Saharastar. Mei wasn't very keen on joining them at that age, but her dream eventually grew on her, and she decided that she wanted to join.

Etymology
Kimura (木村): "Kimura" means Tree Village, with '木' meaning 'Tree' and '村' meaning 'Village'

Mei (めい): The meaning of Mei, since it is written in Hiragana, is unknown.

Quotes

 * "I am Team A's Shimazaki Haruka the 11th."
 * "The princess of AKB0048, 152nd generation understudy, called Mei-chan and KimuMei, I am Kimura Mei." - Mei's catchphrase

Achievements
Senbatsu Sousenkyo SC 0124
 * -|Senbatsu Sousenkyo=

Early Result: 6th (900'451 votes)

Placement: 4th (1'966'543 votes) Placement - 5th - Lost to Takayama Ai
 * -|AKBingo!=
 * -|Jyanken Taikai=
 * Jyanken Taikai SC013

Trivia

 * Paruru shares her original surname with the fake AKB member Kimura Ai who was created in an experiment to see if the members knew who were a part of AKB and who weren't in AKBingo!
 * This statement is also true for Takayama Ai, except for her it's her given name.
 * In the Majisuka Gakuen 00 adaption, Paruru plays one of the main characters, Hime, who is very similar to Paruru's onstage personality.
 * She wants to be an actress in the future.
 * There is also proof that she is aspiring to become an actress in her eyes, where there are spade linings alongside the heart linings.
 * It is unknown which sign she'll get upon graduation from 00; Diamonds, or Spades.
 * She has very good throwing aim - whether it's dodgeballs, grenades, or anything else doesn't matter.
 * This makes her a very feared opponent in Muchaburi Dodgeball.
 * Her aim is not as good with something like a rifle, though.
 * Paruru never eats fish. The reason is unknown, but it's likely due to preferring other foods.
 * She does, however eat most other kinds of sea foods.
 * Paruru is really bad with cold temperatures.
 * Paruru's Kirara prefers to stay by her head, instead of floating around like most other Kirara.